WINNEROFTHEMARKLYNTONHISTORYPRIZE-Aprize-winninghistorian’s“effervescent“(TheNewYorker)accountofaclose-knitbandofwildlyfamousAmericanreporterswho,intherun-uptoWorldWarII,tookondictatorsandrewrotetherulesofmodernjournalism“High-speed,four-lanestorytelling...Cohen’sall-actionnarrativeburstswithcolourandincident.“--FinancialTimesNEWYORKTIMESEDITORS’CHOICE-WINNEROFTHEGOLDSMITHBOOKPRIZEANDTHERALPHWALDOEMERSONAWARD-FINALISTFORTHEPROSEAWARDONEOFTHEBESTBOOKSOFTHEYEAR:TheNewYorker,VanityFair,NPR,BookPage,BooklistTheywereanastonishinggroup:glamorous,gutsy,andirreverenttothebone.Ascubreportersinthe1920s,theyroamedacrossawar-ravagedworld,sometimesperchedatopmulesonwoodensaddles,sometimesglidingthroughcountriesinthesplendorofafirst-classsleepercar.Whileempirescollapsedandfledglingdemocraciesfaltered,theychaseddeposedempresses,internationalfinanciers,andBalkangun-runners,andthenknockedbackdoubleslateintothenight.LastCallattheHotelImperialistheextraordinarystoryofJohnGunther,H.R.Knickerbocker,VincentSheean,andDorothyThompson.Inthosetumultuousyears,theylandedexclusiveinterviewswithHitlerandMussolini,NehruandGandhi,andhelpedshapewhatAmericansknewabouttheworld.Alongsidethesebackstageglimpsesintothehallsofpower,theyleftanotherequallyincrediblesetofrecords.LivingintheheadyafterglowofFreud,theysubjectedthemselvestofrank,criticalscrutinyandarguedaboutlove,war,sex,death,andeverythinginbetween.Plungedintosuccessiveglobalcrises,Gunther,Knickerbocker,Sheean,andThompsoncouldnolongerseparatethemselvesfromtheturmoilthatsurroundedthem.Totellthatstory,theybrokelong-standingtaboos.FromtheircirclecamenotjustthefirstmodernaccountofillnessinGunther’sDeathBeNotProud--amemoirabouthisson’sdeathfromcancer--butthefirstno-holds-barredchronicleofamarriage:Sheean’sDorothyandRed,aboutThompson’sfractiousrelationshipwithSinclairLewis.Toldwiththeimmediacyofaconversationoverheard,thisrevelatorybookcaptureshowtheglobalupheavalsofthetwentiethcenturyfeltupclose.
NPR SEX THENEWYORKER HOTEL GLAMOROUS CHOICE CALL SPEED
